hellopuppies Posted October 16, 2017 #26 Share Posted October 16, 2017 awestover, enjoy your reviews and photos. We are boarding Quantum in Dec, also round trip from Shanghai. We have flight leaving from PVG at 12:50pm on disembarkation day which is earlier than RCCL's recommended time at 2pm. Planning to do self disembarkation in order to beat the queue for taxi. Will appreciate if you can upload the last day cruise compass for the time slots of self disembarkation. Wish you have a great time for the rest of your cruise! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted October 17, 2017 #27 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Thanks, the menus have certainly changed from the previous Dynamic Dining days. Love the photos of Japan - very serene. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awestover89 Posted October 17, 2017 Author #28 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Today we were in Kochi. I really enjoyed the port, although I hate that we had the least amount of time here. We were docked from 7 to 3, and there were free shuttles offered to the city center, but because of clearance we couldn't disembark until 730 with about a 30 minute shuttle ride, and the last shuttle back to the ship left at 2, so we were effectively only in Kochi for 6 hours. Our first stop of the day was at Harimaybashi, a famous bridge right near the downtown bus terminal where the shuttles let us off. From there we took the city tram to Kochi castle. This castle is one of only 12 castles still fully intact in Japan. The castle was definitely a highlight of the day, but the Sunday Market and shopping arcade was also wonderful. The Sunday Market is open 7 days a week, despite the name. It is a stall market with about 60 different stalls, ranging from restaurants to bakeries to souvenir shops and clothing shops. It reminded me a lot of Pikes Place in Seattle or Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. We had lunch at the food court there and bought a slice of Japanese cheesecake and a few souvenirs. Right outside the market is a long pedestrian street mall called an arcade. There was a large variety of convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, and souvenir shops. Shops ranged from budget friendly to real high class shops with Rolex watches and shirts that were over $100 each. We didn't buy anything but a few snacks in the arcade, but it was a really nice walk. Once we were back on board the people of Kochi gave us a traditional dance as a send off as we pushed away from dock and set sail. Dinner tonight was a lot better than it's been before. We still stood in the main line but when we got to the front of the line the hostess recognized us from when we wore our cowboy hats on day two, and had us escorted to a window table. The waiter recognized us from the cowboy hat night as well, and the bartender recognized us as people he served on the first night. I guess we stand out [emoji4] Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayeless Posted October 17, 2017 #29 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Thanks for the wonderful insight to Quantum cruises from Shanghai. As most would concur, any Quantum cruises from Shanghai is usually a black hole with little or no information. I do remember reading that as a guest on Junior Suites or Family Junior Suites on Quantum, you're eligible for dinners at Coastal Kitchen. Yes, only dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awestover89 Posted October 18, 2017 Author #30 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Thanks for the wonderful insight to Quantum cruises from Shanghai. As most would concur, any Quantum cruises from Shanghai is usually a black hole with little or no information. I do remember reading that as a guest on Junior Suites or Family Junior Suites on Quantum, you're eligible for dinners at Coastal Kitchen. Yes, only dinner. Not sure if it's different with this cruise, but we've been told directly and in the cruise compass that coastal kitchen is gold cards only, no junior suites, for any meal. We did find out that the solarium Bistro hotpot specialty meal is available to all guests, but the breakfast and pool area is limited to gold and silver suites only awestover, enjoy your reviews and photos. We are boarding Quantum in Dec, also round trip from Shanghai. We have flight leaving from PVG at 12:50pm on disembarkation day which is earlier than RCCL's recommended time at 2pm. Planning to do self disembarkation in order to beat the queue for taxi. Will appreciate if you can upload the last day cruise compass for the time slots of self disembarkation. Wish you have a great time for the rest of your cruise! Thanks!We just got the disembarking letter. Due to travel restrictions on large ships entering Shanghai, we are estimated to dock two hours late. Expected clearance around 1015, and they say guests with immediate travel plans can request a slot first off the ship. Departure with luggage assistance starts at 1045 for suites and pinnacles, followed by transfer excursions, crown and anchor members, and finally independent guests between 11 and noon. I'm not sure how long customs and immigration will take, or how long airport security will take, but with the taxi ride being an hour you'd probably be cutting it real close if your arrival is delayed as well. I'm not sure how common of an occurrence this is, but we were told while boarding that Shanghai is one of the busiest harbors in Asia. Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted October 18, 2017 #31 Share Posted October 18, 2017 While busy, it's also not uncommon for Shanghai to have fog causing significant delays.. I'd say it's one of the more frequently problematic ports, relatively speaking i.e. most trips are probably still fine - but it's still not uncommon to be delayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheridan318 Posted October 18, 2017 #32 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Hi it must just be for your cruise as we went every night to coastal kitchen and got to say it was awesome and we only had a junior suite, agree about disembarking as you have to go through customs before you disembark and that can take some time I think taking a flight that early would be pushing it, we actually had a much later flight as I was paranoid that we might be delayed getting back into Shanghai then when we got to pudong airport we just went to the service desk for are airline and got an earlier flight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellopuppies Posted October 18, 2017 #33 Share Posted October 18, 2017 awestover, thanks for your inputs for disembarkation. Nice to know before hand, will consider to change to later flight. Appreciate if you will post the details for disembarkation later. Have a safe trip home! Thanks:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awestover89 Posted October 19, 2017 Author #34 Share Posted October 19, 2017 So right now we are in line to disembark. Rooms had to be empty by 9 and breakfast closed at 830. The ship docked at 9am and we got clearance from local authorities at about 10. We entered the line at about 1015 from 270 (other departure lounges included Silk and the theater on Deck 4) It is now 1045 and we have reached Cafe 270. This is easily the slowest disembarkation line we've ever had. I'll post again when we are off the ship and to our hotel Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awestover89 Posted October 19, 2017 Author #35 Share Posted October 19, 2017 It took an hour to get off the ship, an hour for immigration, and about 15 minutes for customs. We got clearance at 10 and made it to the taxi line at 12:15. The taxi line was really chaotic, but moved fairly quick. There were a lot of taxis, but also a lot of people wanting to take a cab. We waited about 30 minutes for a cab. We hit a bit of traffic but nothing horrible, and the ride to our hotel in the Bund area of Shanghai took about 45 minutes and cost 111 Yuan. Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roofire Posted October 19, 2017 #36 Share Posted October 19, 2017 Have enjoyed your review and insights. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellopuppies Posted October 19, 2017 #37 Share Posted October 19, 2017 awestover, thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datolim Posted October 20, 2017 #38 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I am presently on the Ovation on their first sailing from their HK homeport. RCL do not honour any dinner booking. All must now line up outside the MDR whether you have a booking or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted October 20, 2017 #39 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I am presently on the Ovation on their first sailing from their HK homeport. RCL do not honour any dinner booking. All must now line up outside the MDR whether you have a booking or not. Do they still offer fixed (traditional) dining as an option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datolim Posted October 20, 2017 #40 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Do they still offer fixed (traditional) dining as an option? No not anymore. I was on the Marina last month and they still do there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted October 20, 2017 #41 Share Posted October 20, 2017 No not anymore. I was on the Marina last month and they still do there Interesting, I did not know that Quantum was all My Time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted October 20, 2017 #42 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Interesting, I did not know that Quantum was all My Time. The poster said Ovation. Quantum having DD was sort of known, but Ovation as well is a new twist. I guess the Chinese market doesn't mind DD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted October 20, 2017 #43 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I am presently on the Ovation on their first sailing from their HK homeport. RCL do not honour any dinner booking. All must now line up outside the MDR whether you have a booking or not. Are the menus different across venues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datolim Posted October 20, 2017 #44 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Are the menus different across venues? Yes but the same every night. So I had double serving of escargots and lamb shank for 2 nights. Got to have something different so I eat in windjammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted October 20, 2017 #45 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Yes but the same every night. So I had double serving of escargots and lamb shank for 2 nights. Got to have something different so I eat in windjammer. Could you not go to a different venue to change the menu? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datolim Posted October 20, 2017 #46 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Could you not go to a different venue to change the menu? Yes I could but the menu there I could not find what l like. Also the change in the ship time would throw my regular dining time out of whack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer5122 Posted October 21, 2017 #47 Share Posted October 21, 2017 I am presently on the Ovation on their first sailing from their HK homeport. RCL do not honour any dinner booking. All must now line up outside the MDR whether you have a booking or not. We sailed the Ovation last year from Honk Kong but ate in the Coastal Kitchen every night as we didn't care for the food in some of the 4 dining rooms. Do they still do the rotation of the 4 MDR? Hope you are enjoying your cruise. Great ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datolim Posted October 21, 2017 #48 Share Posted October 21, 2017 We sailed the Ovation last year from Honk Kong but ate in the Coastal Kitchen every night as we didn't care for the food in some of the 4 dining rooms. Do they still do the rotation of the 4 MDR? Hope you are enjoying your cruise. Great ship. Having a great time. Ovation is 5 star ship. Mariner and sister ships I think is 4 star. Same menu In the restaurant every night. But the 4 dining rooms have different menus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarky213 Posted October 21, 2017 #49 Share Posted October 21, 2017 I am presently on the Ovation on their first sailing from their HK homeport. RCL do not honour any dinner booking. All must now line up outside the MDR whether you have a booking or not. This could explain why my Calendar has changed to "At Your Leisure" instead of the times I have pre-booked for MTD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datolim Posted October 21, 2017 #50 Share Posted October 21, 2017 This could explain why my Calendar has changed to "At Your Leisure" instead of the times I have pre-booked for MTD. Pixels, other shows and activities not bookable in cruise planner. First day at lunch on the table there is a sign that Pixels can be booked for $29 pp. Found out that it could be book for free later on. It seems that $29 booking is what they call VIP booking for the first 2 rows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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